‘Car culture’ is tied to ‘toxic masculinity,’ professor claims
Jeremiah Poff
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A professor of architecture and urban planning at Texas A&M University says that so-called car culture is an example of toxic masculinity and that car ownership is a sign of power.
Tara Goddard, a professor of architecture at the university, appeared on a podcast earlier this month where she described how toxic masculinity is intertwined with car culture, and efforts to address this should recognize who are the decision-makers when it comes to road design and urban planning.
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Goddard’s appearance on the podcast The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast followed a lecture she gave at Portland State University, where she described how transportation policy professionals should avoid biases while crafting policy and designing roads. She said that car-centric approaches that are hostile to the idea of a walkable city are emblematic of seeing cars as more than tools of transportation.
“Cars … [are] a signifier of status, of power, of dominance, of the U.S.’s role in the world,” Goddard said. “This huge backlash against the 15-minute city idea is really a sign of when the dominant system is challenged, how then people have this deep-seated reaction to pushing back against that in a way that you just wouldn’t if we just saw the car as a tool of utility.”
Goddard cited examples of “toxic masculinity” in car culture, such as the idea that driving an automatic transmission or an electric car is emasculating.
“Misogyny is not just like an individual belief, it’s not just about a hatred of women,” Goddard said. “It’s a set of practices and a system that polices [and] enforces the norms of patriarchal rule. So things like men should be the provider, men should be dominant, men should be strong, not show vulnerability.”
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The Texas A&M professor said that driving schools could address the problem by “leveraging ideas of a positive approach to masculinity” that emphasize caregiving, but noted that movies like The Fast and the Furious franchise provide a difficult contrast to overcome.
“There are lots of good role models out there that could say, ‘actually driving safer is a way to be a real man, right, taking care of others,'” Goddard said. “Of course, you’re up against all the other messages, the popular culture, the TV, movies [like] The Fast and the Furious, but I do think that that would be worth exploring.”